Merck & Co beats forecasts despite sales and profit falls

28 April 2015

US pharma major Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) posting first-quarter 2015 financials, showing that revenues were $9.43 billion, down 8.1% from $10.26 billion a year earlier, but exceeding Wall Street forecasts for $8.98 billion.

Sales were hit by unfavorable currency-exchange rates which reduced these by 5%. Also impacting revenues by 9% was the sale of Merck’s consumer business to Germany’s Bayer. Merck’s shares gained 5.4% to $60.20 in pre-market trading after the figures were released.

First-quarter net income fell 44% to $958 million, or $0.33 per share, down from $1.71 billion, or $0.57 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted for one-time items, adjusted income was $2.43 billion, or $0.85 per share, down from $0.88, but also beating the estimates of analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research of $0.75 per share.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK